


Daddy's Home

by Gears112, phantomthief_fee



Series: Reunion AU [12]
Category: Bendy and the Ink Machine
Genre: Bendy and Susie are vulnerable and Joey takes advantage of it, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Joey is a snake, Mental Health Issues, Murray has a lot of issues
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-06
Updated: 2018-03-05
Packaged: 2019-03-14 18:39:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 15
Words: 14,272
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13596009
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gears112/pseuds/Gears112, https://archiveofourown.org/users/phantomthief_fee/pseuds/phantomthief_fee
Summary: Joey's not as dead as everyone thinks he is. And he has a lot of work to do.





	1. Chapter 1

Contrary to popular belief, Joey wasn’t dead. Granted, he had been set back quite a bit, but he wasn’t dead. It had taken him weeks to finally be able to pull himself back together. He pulled himself out of the ink, taking a large gasping breath of air. His body reformed, resembling a toon version of himself rather than a monstrous parody of Bendy. 

“Finally.” He said, dusting his clothing off. It was a force of habit more than anything else. The Searchers crowded around his feet, making whimpering noises. 

“Did you all miss me?” He asked, patting their heads. It made sense that they’d be happy to have their leader back. A hive mind without a leader was a sorry thing indeed. Joey rolled his head, working out the kinks in his neck. 

“Alright then.” He clapped his hands together. “Where have my precious children gone?” The Searchers fused their hands to his legs, relaying the information they had to him. Joey frowned as the information came in. 

“Henry Henry Henry Henry.” Joey sighed and shook his head. “You’re becoming a rather troublesome thorn in my side, old friend.” The Searchers made curious noises as if asking what was going to happen now. 

“Now?” Joey looked down at the Searchers. “Well, now we call my wayward son back to me.”

 

Bendy was playing with Ruby when he felt the familiar tug at his core. Papa Drew was calling. He quickly got up and excused himself, hiding in the bathroom as his whole form began to get goopy. He knew who the Bad Man was now. It came back to him in a flash, as though he’d been hit by lightning. 

“ **_I don’t wanna go back._ ** ” He whimpered. “ **_Please, Papa Drew, I don’t wanna hurt people anymore_ ** .”

“ _ My son _ ,” Joey’s voice slid into his mind, smooth as silk. “ _ No one’s going to get hurt. I just want my family back together. Wouldn’t you like to have Boris and Alice back? _ ” 

“ **_Mister Wally, Miss Susie, and Miss Allison weren’t happy like that._ ** ” Bendy shook his head. 

“ _ And they’re happier like this? _ ” Joey asked. “ _ Susie certainly isn’t. She wants to be Alice again, I can tell. _ ”

“ **_She does seem like she’s havin’ a hard time..._ ** ” Bendy admitted. He’d seen the way Susie struggled with making amends with the Lawrence family. Nancy had said she’d be happier if Alice was there. 

“ **_But Wally’s happier as a human!_ ** ” Bendy brought himself back to reality. “ **_They’re all trying to get better! We...We don’t need you!_ ** ” There was silence, then Bendy saw Joey appear before him, hands folded behind his back. He looked for all the world like a disappointed parent.

“Tell me, Bendy,” He said. “Do  _ you _ want to go back to who you were before?”

“ **_Well, no..._ ** ” Bendy withdrew a bit. 

“Then who are you to say you don’t need me?” Joey asked, his expression growing cruel and hard. “You might be far enough away that I can’t force you back into the machine, but I can still undo your enchantments. I can make you mortal again. They’ll never forgive you for what you’ve done. You know that, don’t you? You helped me,  _ Murray Hill _ .”

“ **_No!_ ** ” Bendy tried to cover his ears, his whole body shaking. “ **_No, I’m Bendy! Bendy the Dancing Demon!_ ** ”

“I gave you this new identity and I can take it away,” Joey said, striding forward as Bendy backed up until the demon was backed into a corner. “You belong to me. Now and forever.” Bendy whimpered, curling up into a ball on the ground. 

“ **_I’ll be good. I’ll be good._ ** ” He sobbed. 

“That’s my boy.” Joey smiled, cupping Bendy’s head in his hands. “Now bring me Susie. I’ll figure out someone else for Boris.” Bendy nodded fervently. Joey patted his head and vanished. Bendy laid on the floor sobbing to himself for a few minutes until a knock on the door interrupted him.

“Hey, you okay?” Wally’s voice made Bendy almost want to start crying again. “The kiddo’s gettin’ worried about you.”

“ **_Yeah, I’m fine._ ** ” Bendy tried to sound cheerful. “ **_Just...Uh...Had a bit of a flashback._ ** ”

“Yeah, I get that.” Wally sighed. “You need some time?”

“ **_No, I’m good_ ** .” Bendy stumbled up and opened the door. Wally stood there, smiling sympathetically down at the little demon. Bendy could still see Boris in the gangly janitor, and it made him miss his best friend even more. Because he was Bendy. He wasn’t Murray Hill. Bendy tried to put on a smile and pretend everything was alright. 

“ **_Hey, where’s Miss Susie?_ ** ” He asked once Ruby had been taken home. Wally was sprawled across the couch, sketching on a sketchpad. 

“She’s probably trying to get in with Nancy ‘n Jacob.” Wally paused in his sketching. 

“ **_Oooh! What are you drawing?_ ** ” Bendy scrambled up onto the couch to see what Wally was doing. 

“I’m drawing you ‘n Boris.” Wally gave the little demon a big smile. “I mean, I do feel a little bad you don’t have your best friend anymore.” The sketch depicted Boris playing the clarinet and Bendy dancing in a tutu. 

“ **_It’s okay, don’t worry,_ ** ” Bendy assured him. “ **_You weren’t happy like that._ ** ”

“Are you happy?” Wally asked, looking down at Bendy. “I heard you tell the lil lady that you don’t want to go back to the way you were before.” Bendy froze at that question, his smile growing a tad forced. Wally had screamed at the thought of being stuck as Boris. Susie and Allison had lost their minds when they’d been Alice. They hadn’t been happy as Bendy’s friends. They didn’t understand why anyone would want to be stuck like that. But Bendy did. 

“ **_I’m happy like this._ ** ” He insisted. “ **_I promise. Don’t worry about me._ ** ” 

“If you say so,” Wally said. Bendy snuggled up against him. He’d go talk to Susie later. He just wanted to feel safe and warm right now. He wanted to feel loved. 

“I’m here if you need me, okay?” Wally patted Bendy’s head. “We’re all in this together.”

“Okay.”


	2. Chapter 2

....

“Principal’s office.  _ Now _ .”

“B-But Mr. Foster, we d-didn’t mean it-”

“Now.” The group of boys timidly nodded and began to walk into the school building. Joshua looked at Susie. “Can you go to Jacob?” Susie hesitated; was Joshua under a rock or something, had he not seen the mountain she was climbing with the Lawrences?! “Please, I need to make sure they don’t worm their way out of going to the Principal’s office.” Susie sighed, now wasn’t the time to argue, was it? She nodded. “Thanks Susie, I’ll catch up in a bit.” He headed into the building. After a few seconds, Susie turned and began to jog after where the youngest Lawrence had ran; she wasn’t going to screw this up this time.

.

* * *

 

.

“Hmm…” Joey watched from a corner as he saw the teenager run in, slamming the door behind him and leaning against the door and sniffling; far too short to work as a perfect Boris, and there was something familiar about the boy, though what he couldn’t quite place. Joey stepped out of the room, to head to the boy, only to be stopped by a cardboard cutout of his creation. Joey admittedly jumped before frowning as he tried to sidestep the cutout, which continued to try and stop him. He placed his hands on his hips. “Now, now, now Wynn, you don’t need to be petty. I still won, despite the setback.” The searchers pooled around the cutout, preventing it from blocking Drew again. Joey smirked as the searchers knocked the cutout over, meaning that the former police officer and cousin to the former Projectionist, wouldn’t be bothering him for the next few minutes. Joey chuckled, reminiscing about the search party that foolishly thought that they could take his family away from him; seven old men and two bright-eyed young men who thought they could overpower him. He showed them, of course, trapping their souls in the posters and the cardboard cutouts, when he decided to not have them in the busts of the male characters meant for a ‘haunted mansion’-equse ride when he created an amusement park for his creations (that was obviously down the road, once other dreams had been reached), and wanted to rub it in their faces that he was the winner. Father Lawrence was the one he loved to rile up the most, especially when he dragged the bust into the Music Department and just placed him where he could watch his son. Joey chuckled before he heard the boy speak.

“Go away, Ms. Campbell…I don’t want your help.”

“B-But Jacob, it’s dangerous in there…” Joey faintly heard Susie’s voice. “You could get hurt…”

“Why would you care?”

“Because it’s not fair to your family...and I mean, Sammy’s done this first and it hardly worked out for him,” Joey saw the boy look back at the door.

“He has?”

“Of course, there’s been hundreds of times he’s tried hiding in order to avoid things….Me and Dee have had to tag team him and drag him from his office…” Jacob smiled slightly. “Come on, Jacob, I know it’s not fair what they called you, but hiding makes them think they’ve won...and you shouldn’t help their egos…” Jacob sighed. “Please Jacob…come out…” Jacob sighed.

“Only because my mother will get mad if I’m late without letting her know first…” He stood up and opened the door, where Susie was standing apprehensive at the door. Joey watched the boy leave, bemused.

“Well, well, well, so that’s what happened to little Jacob…” Joey chuckled before looking at the poster on the wall next to him where Bendy was staring at him with a judgemental look. “Oh calm yourself down, there’s no need to sound the alarm. I don’t need the boy….not yet anyways.” He smiled before turning. “Besides, we must get the machine ready for the angel’s return!”

.

* * *

 

.

“Momma, let’s not do the bat!!”

“They hurt my baby!”

“Mother, I don’t have the means to bail you out of jail! And besides, the kid caught them and they’re being punished properly!”

“I love how I’m still the kid to you, despite the fact I’m taller than you,”

“Can it Foster and help!”

“Nu-uh, I’m staying out of this.” Susie and Jacob entered to see the latter’s siblings holding back their mother, as Joshua stood back. “Oh hey, glad to see you two are back. And thank you for picking Jacob up.” Susie nodded as Mama Lawrence rushed over to her son, looking him over for bruises and other signs of injury. Jacob went red.

“M-Mother!” Jacob squirmed as his mother hugged him. “M-Mother I’m fine!” Susie smiled softly, feeling a bit like an outsider to the Lawrence Family. Joshua came over and took her shoulder.

“Thanks again Susie…” He said. “I know that was a bit quick…”

“You needed to get the boys to the office…” Susie said softly before rubbing her arms. “He ran to the studio…” She whispered and Joshua paled slightly. “He didn’t get too far in, but I guess he wasn’t looking or something…” Joshua nodded slowly.

“Susie…” Susie looked up at Nancy who was smiling. “Thanks for getting Jacob…’n making sure he was ok…” Susie smiled slightly.

“It was nothing, a-anyone would’ve done it…” Nancy raised an eyebrow.

“Yeah, but anybody would’ve whined about Jacob’s speed.” Jacob stuck his tongue out at his sister. “I’ve heard complaints that he’s too fast.”

“I am not!”

“Are too.”

“Am not!”

“You make Sammy look like a sloth.” Sammy’s face went red.

“Hey!” Mrs. Lawrence began to chuckle as her children began bickering, wiping her eyes as Joshua snickered and patted Susie on the back.

“Baby steps, baby steps…” Susie nodded, but she wasn’t sure that was enough. Sure she was making steps to fix the damage she had done with the Lawrences, but it didn’t seem to be enough, at least to her. Sure she was a perfectionist, but she wanted to be loved, not hated. She sighed softly.

“Want me to take you back to Henry’s?” Joshua asked and she shook her head.

“No thank you Joshua...I just need some fresh air, organize my thoughts…” Susie said, putting on a smile.

“Be careful…” Sammy said. “I don’t want you to get hurt…” Susie’s face flushed slightly before she nodded.

“R-right...see you all later…”


	3. Chapter 3

Susie stepped out of the house, beginning to walk back to Henry’s. She’d made some progress, apparently. And Sammy didn’t hate her, at least. But it wasn’t enough. They still didn’t like her. They still remembered what she’d done. She wanted to go back to the way things had been before. It had been so much easier back when the studio had been running. She and Sammy had been happy together, Nancy had adored her, and she’d had the role of her life. It was the closest to perfect her life had ever been. She sighed. Before she knew it, she was at the studio. 

“Why did Joey have to go crazy?” She murmured. 

“Crazy is such a strong word.” Susie froze at the familiar voice. She turned around very slowly, only to find Joey Drew standing behind her. 

“No...No!” She backed up, starting to shake her head. “Leave me alone!”

“You haven’t even heard what I have to say.” Joey looked hurt, but the expression didn’t reach his eyes. His cold, dead eyes. 

“I don’t want to hear it!” She snapped. “You ruined my life!”

“You ruined your own life, darling.” Joey smiled and tapped her nose. “But I can give it back to you.”

“You’re just going to manipulate me!” Susie stamped her foot. “You manipulate everyone! None of us are going back to you!’ 

“But don’t you want everyone to like you again?” Joey asked, putting a hand on Susie’s shoulder. “Don’t you want to be loved once more? I can give Alice back to you, my dear.” 

“You didn’t do it right the first time, so why should I believe you can do it this time?” Susie said, pushing him away. Still, her voice wavered at this. There was always the possibility that Joey could do it. 

“I managed to make Bendy stable, didn’t I?” Joey waved a hand grandly. “I can make you stable.” Susie hesitated at that. That was true. Bendy was stable. 

“Do you really think they’ll be happier with Alice?” She asked, her voice small. 

“Well, they’re certainly not happy with you, now are they?” Joey said. “They’re never going to forgive you for the way you behaved. You know that, don’t you?”

“I...I know.” Susie’s shoulder began to shake as she felt herself teeter on the verge of tears. “I was terrible. I’ve always been terrible.”

“But you can make it up to them.” Joey whispered in her ear, sounding very much like the snake he was. “You can give them Alice. Alice makes everyone happy.”

“She does, doesn’t she?” Susie smiled slightly. “I could be Alice. I could make them smile. Then they’d love me.”

“Everyone will love you if you’re Alice.” Joey began to lead her towards the studio doors. Susie nodded slowly, already beginning to break down. They entered the studio, and the door slammed shut behind them. 

 

“Hey, has anyone seen Susie?” It had been a few hours since Jacob had been rescued from the studio and no one had seen Susie since she’d left the Lawrence residence. Cordelia was becoming increasingly worried and Joshua was trying to calm her down. 

“I thought she was with you.” Wally said, looking up from his sketchpad. Bendy drew into himself, burrowing into the crook of Wally’s elbow.

“Ben, what’s wrong?” Joshua asked, kneeling beside the little demon.

“ **_Nothin’._ ** ” Bendy muttered. 

“I called Mrs Lawrence, and she hasn’t seen Susie since she left.” Cordelia came into the living room, running her hands through her hair. “You don’t think something happened to her, do you?” Bendy avoided looking at her. Joey had probably already gotten to Susie. Which meant he’d be called back to the studio soon. He didn’t want to go back. But what other choice did he have. 

“Bendy, are you sure you’re alright?” Bendy looked up and realized he’d been gripping Wally’s arm so tightly he was causing the man pain. He quickly let go. 

“Geez, kiddo.” Wally rubbed his arm. “What’s up with you?”

“ **_I, uh, nothin’._ ** ” Bendy forced a smile. 

“Bendy.” Oh no. Cordelia was using her teacher voice. Bendy’s lip quivered and he suddenly burst into tears. 

“ **_I’m sorry!_ ** ” He sobbed, clinging to Wally’s arm. “ **_Papa Drew made me! He said he’d turn me back if I didn’t do what he said!_ ** ”

“Oh, sweetheart.” Cordelia knelt down to pat his head. 

“So Joey got Susie.” Joshua started to pace the length of the room. “This isn’t good. We can’t let him turn her back into Alice.”

“I ain’t goin’ back there.” Wally said, drawing into himself. “I’m sorry, but I ain’t goin’. 

“No one’s asking you to.” Cordelia assured him. She looked back at Joshua. “As much as I hate to say it, it looks like we’re going to have to go back to the studio.”

“I’ll call Henry.” Joshua left the room to make the call. Cordelia stayed kneeling, gnawing at her lip. She’d hoped that none of them would ever have to go near that studio ever again. Evidently, that had been too much to hope for given past experiences. Bendy was still crying into Wally’s arm. 

“It’s going to be okay.” Cordelia smiled softly at the little demon, stroking his head. “We’re going to fix this and make sure Joey never hurts anyone ever again.”

“ **_P-Promise?_ ** ” Bendy sniffled. 

“I promise.” Cordelia said.  

“He’s on his way.” Joshua walked back into the room. “We should get going.” Cordelia nodded and got up, reflexively dusting her dress off. The two left together, both bringing along something to hit with. Then it was just Wally and Bendy. 

“I guess it’s just us for now.” Wally looked down at Bendy. “What do you wanna do?”

“ **_Can...Can I just watch you draw?_ ** ” Bendy asked, a quaver still in his voice.  

“Yeah, that’d be fine.”


	4. Chapter 4

....

Joey hummed to himself before stopping, frowning as a Searcher clutched his leg, relaying the information just found.

“Tch tch tch,” He muttered to himself. “Seems like Henry brought some company with him...Ms. Bell...and some...random boy as well.” He shrugged. “Well, two out of three isn’t bad. But I must welcome them as a proper host…” He turned and knocked on a door. “I will be back my dear, just something I need to attend to, stay put~” He disappeared into the ink and headed to the front of the studio, reforming in an empty room to prepare himself for this reunion.

“Joey! Where the hell are you!?” He heard Henry’s voice, loud and clear. With a smirk, Joey stepped out into the hallway, arms wide open.

“Ah, my dear friend, it’s been a while, hasn’t it?”

.

* * *

 

.

“Check this out boys,” Norman said, coming over to the couch with a large photo album. “Linda and I found this while reorganizing the attic. Wally and Bendy stopped what they were doing and looked as Norman opened the book. “Sammy was actually cute as a kid…” He pointed to a picture of Sammy, probably about 9, beaming next to a crib, in which his baby sister was fast asleep.

“ **_Whoa!_ ** ” Bendy exclaimed before pointing. “ **_Look at this one, it’s Henry!_ ** ” The picture was a far younger Henry, giving chase to a toddler Joshua, both laughing. “ ** _He looks so happy...._** __”

“Oh geez, look at that one…” Wally said, pointing to a photo that was of one of the more infamous studio parties, nearly everyone regardless of age looked like they had one too many and using each other as support as they stood in front of the camera. “That was...Johnny’s birthday, wasn’t it?” Norman made a quiet hum.

“Yeah…one of the last ones before Henry got drafted…” Bendy shifted uncomfortably in his seat before he spotted another picture.

“ **_Who are they?_ ** ” He asked, hoping to move the conversation quickly. Wally smiled as he looked at it.

“That’s the day Norman’s cousin and my sister’s boys graduated from police academy.” He said proudly. “I wonder how they’re doing now...I mean it has been a while.” He forced a chuckle before pausing. “And I haven’t heard high or tail of Father Lawrence...you know, Sammy’s old man…Figured he’d be over some making sure Sammy’s alright or something…” Bendy paled and started trembling remembering the search party that came to the studio and how Papa Drew transformed into a horrible monster and then kill-

“Bendy?” Norman asked, snapping Bendy out of his thoughts. “Bendy, are you alright? You’re...dripping…” Bendy wiped at his face, in an attempt to brush back tears. Norman stole a glance at Wally, the both of them realizing that something had happened to their loved ones that Bendy had seen and that it was a very touchy subject. “You know what? I believe Mrs. Lawrence brought over some home movies of Joshua, Jacob and them...how about we watch that?”

“Sounds like a good idea...how about it Ben?” Bendy sniffled and nodded and Norman quickly tried to work the TV. After a few minutes he got it to play.

“Well, well, well, looks who’s all dressed up,” The camera opened on Nancy, probably about 10 years old, in a very sparkly dress. “Now Nancy, why the outfit?” Nancy stuck her tongue out.

“Daddy, you know why,” She said. “I’m going to see Aunt Susie!”

“Aunt Susie huh? But she isn’t married to Sammy, and you both aren’t related at all, so why call her aunt?” Nancy’s face scrunched up.

“Cause she’s like my sister!” Norman chuckled as Nancy listed off the reasons why. “And you like her too Daddy!” Gerald chuckled from behind the camera.

“I suppose I do think she’s quite a gal…” Bendy raised an eyebrow; Papa Drew had used that for Alice Angel, but obviously he wasn’t the first one to use that phrase.

“Sammy and Susie used to date,” Norman explained. “And he wanted Alice to kinda be the affirmation of their affection, the love of his life voiced her, and he was the one who pushed heavily for her shorts, and the plushes, and the catch-phrase ‘She’s Quite A Gal’...”

“Of course Joey didn’t get that...thick skulled bastard…” Wally muttered as the gears began turning in the darling demon’s head. If that was the case, then…

“ **_I can help Susie!_ ** ” He hopped up from his seat and looked at the two men. “ **_I-I gotta head to the studio! I think I can help Susie from Papa Drew!_ ** ” Norman and Wally offered hesitant smiles.

“Be careful Ben…” Bendy nodded but before he stepped out Wally spoke up.

“Make sure you get Joey a shiner, just from me, alright?” Bendy beamed and nodded, now filled with a confident determination; he was the hero, after all.

“ **_You got it!"_ **


	5. Chapter 5

Joey walked out with all the grace and gravitas that he always used when he was ‘performing’. He had a reputation to uphold after all. Joshua and Cordelia stood on either side of Henry, looking less than pleased to see Joey. In fact, no one seemed happy to see Joey.  He was hurt, really, he was. 

“Is no one excited to be reunited with me?” He asked, putting a hand to his heart. “Why, you’ve wounded me.”

“The last time you saw me, you said I was expendable and tried to turn me into an abomination.” Cordelia said flatly. “Nothing will ever make me happy to see you.” She was shaking like a leaf, yet she stood firm. 

“I’ve never met you,” Joshua said. 

“What about you, Henry?” Joey turned his attention to his old friend. “Aren’t  _ you _ happy to see me? We are friends, aren’t we?”

“You destroyed the lives of our friends and coworkers.” Henry narrowed his eyes. “I can’t call you my friend. Not anymore.”

“How cruel.” Joey sighed, shaking his head. “And here I am, just trying to help all of you.”

“Help us?!” Cordelia sputtered, her face contorting in anger. “When have you ever helped anyone but yourself?! You’re a snake! A two-bit con artist!” Joshua had to hold her back from running over and trying to deck Joey right then and there. 

“Now now, Miss Bell, there’s no need for names.” Joey said. “I’m sure Henry knows how helpful I can be.”

“No, I’m with her.” Henry said. Joey pursed his lips in slight annoyance. They really were a tough crowd, weren’t though. He sighed. Oh well, beggars couldn’t be choosers. They might not have been glad to see him, but they certainly weren’t going to throw a wrench in his plans this time. 

“I assume you’re here for Susie, correct?” He put on a smile again. “I assure you, I’m not holding her against her will or anything.” 

“Let us talk to her.” Henry said. “Now.” Joey put his hands up and stepped aside, letting them go to Susie. Cordelia gave him a dirty look as she passed by, holding up her middle finger until Joshua made her put it down. Susie was in the ink machine room, sitting in a corner. 

“Susie!” They all ran over. 

“Are you alright?” Joshua asked. 

“I’m fine.” Susie frowned slightly. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

“Joey’s not forcing you to be here, is he?” Henry looked genuinely concerned. 

“No.” Susie shook her head. “I can probably leave if I want to. But...I don’t want to. This is for the best.”

“Susie-” Cordelia opened her mouth to try and be comforting, but Susie wasn’t having it. 

“You can’t talk me out of this. None of you can.” She said. “It would be better if everyone had Alice around. Everyone would be happier that way. No one likes me! I’m a terrible person!”

“You’re not a terrible person.” Cordelia shook her head. “Please, come back with us.”

“Look, it’s going to take time to make things right with the Lawrences, but you have to try.” Joshua said. “Nothing worth doing is ever easy. You’re making progress, Susie. You can’t just give up. If nothing else,  _ we’d _ miss you if you were gone.”

“You...You would?” For a moment, Susie’s conviction to become Alice wavered. Joey stood in the doorway, arms folded. Just looking at him reminded Susie of all the terrible things she’d done. She could never escape her past. 

“I can’t go back.” She looked back at her lap. “I’ve been a terrible person and this is the only way I can redeem myself.” Cordelia stood up, beginning to wring her hands in frustration. She wanted to do something, anything, to fix this situation. She hated seeing other people feeling this terrible about themselves.

“ **You.** ” She turned to Joey, her whole body quivering with barely contained rage. 

“Me?” Joey raised an eyebrow and pointed to himself. 

“You did this to her!” She yelled, pointing at the distraught Susie. 

“Dee, maybe you should calm down.” Joshua tried to pull her back. 

“I didn’t cause her problems, I just called attention to them.” Joey examined his nails. “You’re letting your emotions get the better of you, Miss Bell. If I recall correctly, that always was a problem of yours.” Cordelia screamed and attempted to launch herself at Joey. She was held back by Joshua, although he looked as though he were seriously considering letting her go and seeing how much damage she could do. Joey did take a step back, fear registering for just a moment. Once he was sure the former intern wasn’t a threat, though, he regained his composure and smiled. 

“I’m simply giving her what she wants.” He practically purred. 

“ **_No you’re not! You’re using her! Just like you used me!_ ** ” 

Joey turned around very slowly, his expression positively demonic as he laid eyes on the little demon standing at the end of the hallway.

“Well well well, the prodigal son returns.” He stalked towards Bendy. “Why are you here, my child? Have you come to help me?” Cordelia, Joshua, and Henry poked their heads into the hallway, all shocked to find the demon there. 

“ **_I’m here to save Susie!_ ** ” Bendy proclaimed. “ **_You’re a...A big meanie! And you aren’t going to hurt anyone anymore._ ** ” Joey narrowed his eyes, tilting his head to the side and smiling so that Bendy could see his teeth.

“I’d like to see you try.”


	6. Chapter 6

....

“Susie, you can’t do this.” Joshua said, turning back to the woman. “This isn’t the right way to fix anything. It’s going to make things worse.” Susie shook her head. 

“Joshua. I’ve made up my mind. I’m doing this.” Joshua took a deep breath, frustrated with this woman before he threw his hands up in the air.

“You know what? Fine.” Susie looked up at him in surprise. “You want to turn yourself into a cartoon and run away, fine. But first, you’re marching your ass down to the Lawrence’s home and you’re going to look each one of them in the eye and tell them how much of a damn coward you are. Tell them you’re too chicken of having responsibility and then, feel free to turn into Alice Fucking Angel for all I care.” Susie’s face contorted in offense.

“ _ Excuse _ me?” She demanded and Cordelia looked at Joshua, wondering what the hell he was doing; he wasn’t seriously planning on just giving up on Susie, was he? 

“You heard what I said, unless you’re deaf in addition to being a coward.” Joshua crossed his arms, shaking his head. “A yellow-bellied coward.” 

“And you say I’m the asshole.” Joey mused to himself, pausing in his way to Bendy as Susie fumed before standing up and hauling off and smacking Joshua across the face. 

“How  _ dare _ you!? You have no idea what hell I went through! What stupidity I did! There is no damn way I can ever,  _ ever _ redeem myself!” Susie shrieked through her tears. Joshua didn’t react to the hit or being screamed at.

“Are you sure?” Susie stepped back in shock.

“W-What?!”

“Are you sure that you’ll never redeem yourself? You a psychic and forgot to tell everyone?” Joshua asked, his demeanor very serious. “You don’t know the future, and forget even Nancy, or Sammy for a second; do you think your brother would be happy to know his baby sister gave up being her for a  _ cartoon character _ ? After all he did for you?” Susie hesitated, and Joey frowned; who ever this boy was, he was getting in the way of his dreams. Joey turned to get rid of Joshua, giving Bendy the opportunity to lunge at Joey’s feet, biting hard down on the man’s ankles. Joey yelped and turned, and Cordelia didn’t waste a second and swung her bat, connecting wood with Joey’s skull, sending the man flying into the wall.

“ **_Whoa!!_ ** ” Bendy exclaimed as Henry held Cordelia back, knowing full well that Cordelia would vent the years of anger onto the man responsible. Joshua let out a low whistle, clearly having fallen for his girlfriend once again as Susie watched in disbelief. “ **_That’s a base hit!!_ ** ” Joey slowly grunted as he lifted himself from the ground, little birds and stars swirling around his head.

“Why you…” Joey managed out and Henry looked at Joshua, who nodded as if he knew what Henry was thinking. Joshua quickly scooped up Susie and Henry did the same with Cordelia, and Bendy as they bolted to the door while Joey struggled to get back to his feet. The men kept running, Joshua making sure that there was things fell over behind them, giving Joey some obstacles, and didn’t stop till they made it to the memorial garden. 

“E-Everyone, everyone ok?” Henry panted as they set the girls and Bendy down. Susie huffed and dusted her dress off, refusing to look at Joshua, the man in question rubbing his jaw, where a bruise was beginning to form. Cordelia came over to Joshua and examined it.

“She got you pretty good…” Joshua chuckled.

“Took one for the team…” He whispered back. “If being gentle wasn’t going to knock some sense into her, maybe pissing her off might.” Cordelia frowned and gave Joshua a teacher look as Bendy looked at the flowers while Susie stepped away, dealing with her own conflicting wants.

“ **_Whoa! These are some really pretty flowers!_ ** ” He exclaimed. Susie looked at them, before seeing the display. She walked over and began to read it her face falling as she read the names.

“W-What…” She looked at Cordelia, Joshua, and Henry. “What is…Why is…” She struggled to find the words.

“They went to the studio…” Cordelia said softly. “It was a while after everyone vanished and they wanted answers….” Susie took a slow breath. “Only one person got out...but he died in the hospital…”

“One of the Frank twins…” Joshua stated. Bendy held closer to Henry. 

“ **_Wally had a brother?_ ** ” Joshua shook his head.

“Only a sister, she had twins and both of them were cops….”  Bendy nodded slowly before he remembered something.

“ **_Did they something that they’d “get outta here” or something?_ ** ” Both Joshua and Cordelia nodded and Bendy’s eyes lit up. “ **_I’ve heard him in the studio! He must be down there too! I-I mean sometimes when me and Bo were hiding, we’d hear Papa Drew arguing with someone who said often that he needed to let them ‘get outta there’!_ ** ” Bendy’s face fell. “ **_But that means…_ ** ” He wrung his one hand nervously. 

“Well, Sammy, Norman, Susie and Allison, and Johnny got out,” Joshua said quickly. “That means that whatever that nutjob thinks he’s doing isn’t working as well as he wants…” He offered a smile. “That just means we can find a way to get into a weak-point and stop him.” Bendy looked up at Joshua with a hopeful look.

“ **_Y-You think so?_ ** ” Joshua nodded and patted the toon’s head.

“You betcha, Ben!”


	7. Chapter 7

Joey was livid. All his hard work, ruined! He snarled, kicking at the walls and destroying any Searchers who came near him. How dare they ruin his plans?! Even Cordelia, the one he’d been counting on to be meek and harmless, had shown herself to be an enemy. That boy...That boy had been the one to talk Susie out of it. That boy had given Cordelia the courage to hit him with a baseball bat. That boy needed to be dealt with. 

“Tell me about that boy.” He said, settling into a chair. “I know you’ve all met him before.”

The Searchers crowded around him, relaying their information.

 

Back at Henry’s house, Susie was curled up on the couch. Elsewhere in the house, Henry was forming a plan of attack with Sammy, Joshua, Nancy, Norman, and Cordelia. Bendy had been offered a seat at the table, as had Wally, but both had declined. Wally just wanted to adjust to being normal again, while Bendy wanted to keep Susie company. In front of Susie, Johnny and Bendy were playing cards. Wally was tinkering with a clock. 

“ **_Got any 2’s?_ ** ” 

“Go fish.”

Bendy grumbled and drew a card before they began again. 

“Got any Queens?”

“ **_Go fish._ ** ”

This went on for a few more minutes until Susie couldn’t take it anymore. 

“How are you all so calm?” She demanded. 

“We’re all pretty fucked up, Susie.” Wally didn’t even look up from his tinkering. “Most of us are just glad we’re still alive.”

“I’m glad I’m not stuck in an organ anymore,” Johnny added. “That was something awful.” 

“ **_Sorry ‘bout that,_ ** ” Bendy mumbled, trying to sneak a peek at Johnny’s cards. Johnny immediately noticed and held his cards close to his chest with a scandalized look.

“Do you just wanna talk?” Wally asked. “‘Cause I’m sensing you wanna talk.” 

Susie let out an exasperated sigh. “Yes. Fine. I want to talk.”

“ **_Whatcha want to talk about?_ ** ” Bendy looked over at her. Susie stopped for a moment just to stare at him. She couldn’t help but wonder who Bendy had once been. The only people missing from the studio gang were Grant, Thomas, and Shawn, and Bendy didn’t act like any of them. The only other person she could think of would be that guy Murray Hill who showed up sometimes. But Hill had always been rather soft-spoken.

“I...Do you think it would be better if I was Alice?” She asked, going back to the topic at hand. 

“No.” All three men chorused together. 

“At least pretend to think about,” Susie grumbled. 

“Becoming Alice would just mean running away from your problems,” Wally said. “You made some mistakes and you need to own up to them. It’ll be hard gettin’ Sammy’s family to forgive you, sure, but you can’t just give up.”

“ **_You’re already trying to fix things. That’s the first step! I know you can do it!_ ** ” Bendy gave her a thumbs up.

“I’m sure if you just keep trying, you’ll get there eventually.” Johnny gave her a big smile. 

“Well, if I can’t be Alice, then he can’t be Bendy.” Susie pointed to Bendy. If Bendy could have paled, he would have at that moment. 

“What are you talking about?” Johnny asked. Wally said nothing, although he halted his tinkering for the moment, staring down at the gears spread out around him.

“He’s running away from his problems just as much as I am, isn’t he?” Susie looked accusingly at the little demon. “He’s avoiding taking responsibility for what he did by not turning back into a human.” 

“Deflecting ain’t gonna help you, Susie.” Wally finally looked up at her. He looked the same as he had when he’d worked at the studio, but his eyes showed his age. His eyes were so tired. 

“But it’s true!” Susie insisted. “If I can’t run away from my problems then neither can he.” Bendy drew into himself, hugging his knees and rocking back and forth. He couldn’t go back to being human. Everyone would hate him. They’d know who he was and they’d hate him for what he’d done. 

“ **_They’ll never for_ ** give me.” He muttered, his ink beginning to run. Everyone froze as the voice of Murray Hill came through, clear as day. Wally had already had his suspicions, but he hadn’t been certain. 

“M-Mr Hill?” Johnny asked, voice uncertain. Before anyone could ask any more questions, Bendy got up and bolted out of the room. They heard the door to Bendy’s room slam and the lock click. Wally groaned and ran a hand through his hair. 

“It was Hill the whole time?” Susie whispered, almost unable to believe it. She would have thought Bendy would be one of the studio workers, not some random man Joey had hired to build the ink machine. The door to the back room opened and the group poked their heads out. 

“We heard the door slam,” Cordelia said. “Is everything okay?”

“Bendy is Mr Hill.” Johnny looked at the group, dumbfounded. 

“The guy Joey hired to build the Ink Machine?” Sammy frowned, squinting his eyes a little. “Why would Joey turn  _ him _ into a cartoon? Guy followed Joey around like a puppy. He’d never go against him.”

“How did you find this out?” Henry asked. 

“I was just...They said I couldn’t run away from my problems by being Alice...So I thought he shouldn’t run away from his.” Susie struggled to string her thoughts together. She’d barely spoken two words to Murray Hill during her time at Joey Drew Studios. It was difficult to recall anything about him, really. He’d been a nondescript looking man and he’d hardly done anything to stand out amongst the other colourful characters of the studio. 

“I’ll go talk to him.” Henry sighed. He ascended the stairs and knocked on the door to Bendy’s room. 

“Go away.” Murray’s voice, not Bendy’s came from the other side. Henry didn’t have the energy in him to be shocked. 

“Ben, I’d like to talk to you,” Henry said. 

“It’s no use calling me that anymore,” Bendy said. “They all know who I am.”

“Does that mean you want the enchantment reversed?”

For a few moments, there was only silence. Then the door opened slightly, revealing a tired and melting Bendy. 

**_“I don’t wanna go back._ ** ” He whimpered. There was more than one reason the soul residing in the ink didn’t want to be Murray anymore. Henry smiled softly. 

“Why don’t we talk about it?” 

“ **_....Okay._ ** ” Bendy stepped aside and Henry entered, closing the door behind him. 


	8. Chapter 8

...

“What were you two playing?” Johnny looked at the female Lawrence, who had walked over as Henry went to help Bendy/Murray. “Poker?”

“No, just Go Fish…” Johnny said slowly as Nancy brushed past her brother and sat where Bendy had been sitting.

“You know Poker, or Blackjack?” Johnny blinked slowly before Nancy sighed before turning to Cordelia. “Alright, get over here Dee, I’m finishing up teaching you the cards.”

“You know to play cards?” Johnny asked and from the kitchen they heard Joshua snort as Nancy smirked.

“Ever since I was a kid.” Nancy said. “Sammy always had me shuffle his cards when he had to babysit me…” Johnny snickered, earning Sammy’s glare. Susie curled up, clearly uncomfortable with how close Nancy was to her. “Course Susie was the one to really teach me.” 

“Really?” Susie was turning red.

“Oh yeah!” Nancy laughed. “Man it was funny seeing Sammy’s face when I beat him.”

“You cheated.” Sammy argued. “You and Susie cheated, I remember that much.” His face went red as Cordelia raised an eyebrow.

“What happened?”

“She kissed him on the cheek then told me his cards.” 

“Oh that’s cute….” Cordelia chuckled. “And very clever.”

“Hence why I am always on Nancy’s team.” Joshua laughed as he came into the living room. “She is scary competitive.” Nancy stuck out her tongue. “Ok, I stand corrected, your mother is scary competitive.” Joshua held up his hands. “Hey, hey, I’m just saying last month’s Game Night was a little crazy….” Nancy blushed and crossed her arms.

“I-I’m going to head upstairs…” Susie said softly, starting to get up and Nancy blocked her.

“No.” Nancy said firmly. “You’re not.” She turned to Susie. “Joshy told me what you said and I refused to let you go turn into a freaking cartoon character.”

“Nancy...It’s not...It would be better-”

“Bullshit.”

“You said that you even would prefer her compared to me when you talked to Bendy!” Nancy rolled her eyes and groaned. 

“You’d think I’d really tell Bendy I would’ve rather dealt with a bunch of spiders then see Alice Angel?” Nancy looked at Susie. “Good grief, did you completely forget that I hated Alice?”

“Wait what?!” Sammy exclaimed and Nancy groaned, getting up.

“I’m sure there’s the old tape, gimme a sec…” She headed to the bin where the tapes were stored and after a few moments came back. She got in the player and gave everyone a pointed look. “Nobody laughs; I had lost my front two teeth.” Joshua just smiled, knowing full well what was in store. “Goes for you too Foster.”

“I know, I know…” Nancy continued to glare as the video showed up, opening on Nancy arms crossed and glaring at the Alice Angel poster.

“Nancy, that’s Susie’s new character, Alice Angel,” Sammy’s voice came from off camera. “She’s going to be-”

“I don’t like her. Not at all.” Wally covered his snort at the younger Nancy’s bluntness.

“But she’s voiced by Susie, I thought you liked-”

“But she’s not Aunt Susie. And there’s no replacing Aunt Susie!” The child huffed and crossed her arms. “‘Sides, Daddy’s gonna be mad that the Angel’s wearing black. And playing with demons. So Aunt Susie’s better anyways.” There was a long sigh from Sammy off camera.

“She’s not going to play with a demon, and she’s not going to replace Susie, Nancy.” Nancy stared at the camera with her hands on her hips.

“She better not be Buster!” Nancy stopped the video.

“Ringing any bells now O brother of mine?” She snarked and Sammy’s face scrunched up. “Or am I going to have to find the tape of Dad’s reaction to seeing the Alice Angel shorts?”

“No, no, no I-”

“So turning into Alice Angel wouldn’t help at all…” Susie said softly and Nancy sighed.

“If you’re really committed to that sparkle motion, I’m not stopping you,” She said. “I’m just reminding you that me and Alice aren’t exactly besties.”

“Yeah, and when you are on acid, you always call her Susie or bitching about how that’s not how angels work.” Joshua mused and Nancy shot him a look. “We have weird Friday nights at the parlour.” Was all he said to the looks he got from the former studio employees.

“The point being that Susie, you’ve always been more important to me that that cartoon character.” Nancy said, trying to form her thoughts. “Even when you completely went off the deep end, you were still  _ my _ Aunt Susie, and for fucks sake Campbell, we’ve all done stupid ass shit! Wait till you see Dee get drunk off her ass, you’d think she worked as a Bond Girl with the schemes she plans out!” Cordelia went red as Nancy sighed. “Of course I’m upset and worried about what happened, that fact you went after me for a black-and-white tattoo kinda does that to a person, but thinking that running away and pretending it never happened isn’t going to fix it.” Nancy looked at Susie. “Please Susie, you’re doing a lot better than you think; don’t sell yourself short and you sure as hell are no going to give that sarmy-ass Drew the benefit of thinking what he did was ok!” She took Susie’s hands. “If nothing else think of it as not giving that dumbass any reason to saunter around with that stupid ass smile on his face!”

.

* * *

 

.

Joey paced; while there was some information on that mystery boy, but it wasn’t enough. All they seemed to know was they he’d show up every once and a while when Cordelia still worked there and would leave with her. 

“I need more information…” He mused. “Obviously that brat is more important…” Joey stopped before a grin grew on his face. “Ah! I know just who can assist me with that~” He walked to where Shawn’s room was. “Oh Edgar~ I have a surprise for you~” There was a sad scared whimper coming from under Shawn’s desk and Joey chuckled. “Now, now Edgar, no need to be so silly, it’s a fun job. It’s going to get you to see the town, isn’t that what you want?” Joey waited for the ‘toon’ to warily poke it’s head out. “I need you to get some information without getting caught. And if you were to cause some...mild frights along the way, I may look the other direction, so long as I get what I need.” Joey’s grin widened as Edgar came out from his hiding spot and towards Joey. “Good boy….”


	9. Chapter 9

Bendy sat across from Henry, the toon on the bed and Henry on a chair, kicking his feet against the bed. Henry looked every bit the concerned parent that he was, hands folded in front of him and eyes ringed with heavy bags. 

“So,” Henry began. “Tell me about why you don’t want to go back to being human.” Bendy shifted uncomfortably, his eyes turning brown. 

“ **I was...never** that impressive of a person as a human,” Bendy said, his voice slowly slipping into Murray’s. “I mean, I dropped out of medical school.” He laughed ruefully. “Just couldn’t hack it as a doctor.”

“Medical school isn’t for everyone.” Henry tried to assure him. 

“Tell that to my parents. They were furious.” Bendy leaned back on his hands, his form starting to stretch out a bit. “They shelled out all that money because they wanted me to be a doctor and I blew it. They basically disowned me.” He looked somewhere between Bendy and human by this point. 

“No offence, but your parents sound like assholes,” Henry said. 

“None taken. They were.” Murray, because it was Murray now, snorted. “I’m just glad I didn’t have any siblings. Would’ve sucked to be compared to them.”

“You don’t think they would have been compared to you?”

“No.” Murray shook his head solemnly. “No matter how my life might have been changed, I think they always would have been disappointed in me. I was never handsome enough, never smart enough, never outgoing enough.” He sighed heavily, his head dropping so that he was looking down at his lap. He stared at his human hands in solemn resignation. 

“Did you even want to be a doctor?” Henry asked.

“I did.” Murray nodded slowly. “I really really did. More than anything. I wanted to help people. But...I couldn’t do it.”

“Being a doctor is difficult.” Henry reached out to hold Murray’s hand. “It’s not for everyone. You tried, I can tell.”

“I tried and failed.” Murray was almost human now, revealing a nondescript looking man. “No wonder Joey thought I would be easy to control.”

“Joey fooled all of us.” Henry sighed. “You shouldn’t beat yourself up over it.” 

“I bl **_indl_ ** y foll **_owed h_ ** im.” Murray held his head in his hands. “I knew what he was doing and I followed him anyway. I helped a monster! I’m just as bad as him!”

“Hey!” Henry’s voice came out perhaps a bit sharper than expected and he put his hands on Murray’s shoulders. 

“Don’t say that.” Henry’s voice softened. “Please, don’t call yourself a monster. I probably would have followed him too. Joey was my best friend for a long time, longer than you ever knew him. I would have followed him anywhere.”

“But you didn’t. You had the sense to leave him.” Murray seemed on the verge of tears, big fat globs of ink gathering in the corners of his eyes. 

“It wasn’t sense.” A knot formed in Henry’s stomach. Seeing everything that had happened to everyone haunted him. Sometimes, he wondered if he could have stopped what happened. If he’d just stayed, maybe he could have done something. Maybe he could have talked Joey out of it. 

“Sure seemed like it to everyone else.” Murray managed a wry smile. “Everyone always said you were smart for leaving.”

“I don’t feel smart,” Henry admitted. They both lapsed into silence, staring at each other. Murray cried a little, hugging his knees. 

“Thank you.” Murray finally said. “For letting me talk this out.”

“No problem.” Henry gave him a reassuring smile. He hesitated for a moment. “I am wondering, though. How did you start working for Joey?” Murray opened his mouth to answer, but he was cut off when they heard Nancy’s scream from downstairs, followed by the chattering of a spider. In an instant, Bendy snapped back into place. 

“ **_Edgar!_ ** ” He bounded up and out of the room. Henry got up and followed after him. Downstairs, they found Edgar the Spider latched onto Wally’s leg. Nancy was standing on a chair, shrieking. 

“GET IT AWAY!” She yelled, making shooing motions. 

“Aw c’mon, he’s kinda cute.” Wally patted the spider’s head. “Seems to like me, too.” Edgar made happy little noises, nuzzling Wally’s leg.

“I don’t care!” Nancy snapped. “I don’t want him anywhere near me!”

“Nance, it’s going to be alright.” Joshua tried to assure her, but Nancy wasn’t having any of it. Sammy similarly was trying to calm his sister, without about as much luck as Joshua. Honestly, he was laughing his ass off. 

“Stop laughing, Sammy!” Nancy yelled. “A three-foot tall spider is terrifying!”

“I mean, it’s kind of funny.” He laughed.

“ **_Edgar! It’s so good to see ya!_ ** ” Bendy ran over and swept Edgar up in a big hug. “ **_How’d you get out of the studio?_ ** ” Edgar made some little noises, letting go of Wally and making gestures with his hands. 

“What’s he saying?” Norman asked, moving closer. 

“ **_He says Joey let down his guard after the attack and he managed to get out._ ** ” 

“How’d  he find us?” Johnny watching the little spider curiously. 

“ **_He followed my presence,_ ** ” Bendy said, unable to stop grinning. “ **_Man, it’s so good to see you’re okay._ ** ” 

“Well, that’s one fewer person to rescue from the studio.” Henry ran a hand through his hair. “We’ll have to find the others when we go back again.” None of them thought to be suspicious of the little spider toon. That was what Joey had been counting on. 

After everything had settled down, Bendy took Edgar up to his room, showing him around and chattering on excitedly. As Bendy showed Edgar the pictures Henry had on his mantle, Edgar pointed to a picture of Joshua and made a questioning noise. 

“ **_Oh, him?_ ** ” Bendy said. “ **_That’s Joshua, but we call him Joshy. His dad and Henry served in the war together, so he’d kinda like Henry’s kid. He’s dating Cordelia. Sammy doesn’t like him much because of it, but I think Joshy’s a good guy._ ** ” Edgar nodded before moving on to other things. 

In his office, Joey smiled to himself. So that was who the boy was. He could work with that information. Perhaps the boy could be of some use to him after all. 


	10. Chapter 10

...

“Now say ‘Ahhh’!”

“Ahhh,” Ruby looked into Joshua’s mouth as the man sat on the couch in the tattoo parlour’s lobby, allowing the girl to be a doctor, though without any of the tools.

“ **_What are you doing there Ruby?_ ** ” Bendy asked, Edgar standing behind Bendy, a little more than nervous about being around this strange looking place. Ruby looked at the toons with a big smile.

“I’m giving Joshy a check-up! That way Dawn’s daddy can play with me and Daddy after he check ups Daddy! Dawn’s daddy has a big yard and two big doggies!” Joshua chuckled before he explained.

“He’s the main doctor in town...works with the veterans and active military department among other things.” Bendy nodded slowly as Ruby turned back to Joshua and looked in his mouth.

“It’s really dark.” Ruby pointed out, as Joshua tried to not laugh with the girl poking her head in his mouth and Edgar made some confused chittering. Bendy tapped his head and laughed.

“ **_Oh! Silly of me! Edgar, this is Ruby! She’s Chris’s daughter! Ruby! This is Edgar! He’s one of my friends!_ ** ” Ruby looked at Edgar and waved before pouting.

“Wait, is he a spider? Aunt Nancy’s not going to like him…” Bendy chuckled nervously.

“She already met Edgar…” Joshua said and Ruby made an ‘Oh’ sound. 

“Aw man, Aunt Nancy must’ve been so scared…” Edgar made some chattering noises and Ruby looked at him. “What’s he saying?”

“ **_Edgar asked why she’s scared of him._ ** ” Bendy said simply.

“It’s perfectly rational to have slight arachnophobia,” Bendy and Edgar turned to see an older man walking out with Chris to the lobby, the man in a doctor’s coat. “It’s a simple human evolutionary adaptation. Ms. Lawrence just has a slightly more heighten than the average adult.” Ruby nodded, as if she got that, though it was clear it went over the toddler’s head. The older man chuckled before he saw Bendy and Edgar and blinked slowly. “Um…?”

“Remember how I said that some crazy stuff was going on?” Chris said in a deadpan voice. “Meet the crazy stuff…”

“I see…” Bendy was quiet as he realized this was the same man that he spent hours studying medical rules and methods, staying long hours at his house and struggling to understand the differences between medical procedures. He hung back as the man came closer, examining Edgar as Ruby hopped off Joshua.

“Dawn’s daddy! Joshua is clear cause I did his check up!” The man chuckled.

“Ruby, I thought I told you that you can call me Dr. Robin,” Ruby nodded firmly as she sounded out the words.

“Do-tore Row-bin,” The man and Chris laughed.

“Atta girl, Ruby,” Chris said as Joshua got up. “And good job checking up on Joshy, though did you remember to check his arm?” Ruby shook her head sheepishly. “It’s alright sweetpea, how about we let Dr. Robin check Joshy’s arm and then we’ll go see Nana and then see Dawn and her doggies?” Ruby nodded slowly, going over to her father as Edgar chittered. Bendy rubbed the back of his head.

“ **_Edgar is asking why Joshy needs to have his arm checked…_ ** ” Joshua let out a sigh.

“When I was stationed in Korea, there was a mild accident near the army hospital and some shrapnel hit me.” Was all he said and Edgar nodded, relaying the information to Joey, figuring that Joey would be pleased with that new information.

.

* * *

 

.

“Allison?”

“Epp!” Allison jumped, barely holding onto the bowl she was holding, turning to see Susie coming towards. “O-O-Oh...Susie...you startled me…” Susie smiled softly.

“Heh, sorry about that...I just wanted to talk…”

“Oh, ok...what about?” Susie sighed softly.

“What now…”

“Hmm?” Susie sighed and leaned against the table.

“Joey is alive...he’s got the machine working...he could really make it work…”

“And he’s an egotistical madman.” Allison pointed out as she set the bowl down. “Whatever he said to you, whatever he claims, it’s only a short term solution.”

“Yeah…” Allison took Susie’s shoulders and looked at her.

“Susie, what Joey did to us is inexcusable, and no way he spins it will make him the hero. I know that it’s very hard to see it, but we are far better without that lousy S-O-B.” She smiled. “Besides, we get to make sure that Cordelia and her man have a good wedding. Cause you know we’re going to need to help her.” Susie looked at her in mild confusion before she grinned.

“Yeah, you’re right...and we definitely have to make sure Sammy doesn’t try to ruin it.” The two woman giggled in delight as they focused on the idea of planning Cordelia’s wedding.

.

* * *

 

.

“And...there…” Joey stepped back, admiring his work on the new additions to the ink machine. “That should definitely aid me when I bring back Boris..” He chuckled before looking at the new character model sheets he created. Looking over them, he smiled wickedly; while there was updated looks for the known characters, there were some new characters that bore eerie resemblance to his coworkers when the studio had first opened. He chuckled to himself; he would bring his family back together, even if they didn’t see the benefit of it just yet.

But first things first, he had to take care of that bothersome boy.


	11. Chapter 11

Despite Bendy’s protests, once Joshua had been checked out, he and Edgar were dragged over to Dr. Robin’s home by Ruby. 

“You gotta meet the doggies!” She insisted, dragging them along. “They’re really nice!” 

“ **_Slow down! You’re gonna yank my arm off!_ ** ” Bendy tried to stay happy and jovial. There was an icy lump developing in the pit of his stomach. The thought of returning to the home of his former friend made him feel rather nervous. He didn’t want to be reminded of how the people in his life had moved on without him. It was more than likely that Robin hadn’t even missed him.

“Sorry, she gets really excited about the dogs.” Joshua couldn’t help but laugh despite himself. 

“ **_Yeah, I can tell._ ** ” Bendy muttered. Dr. Robin walked behind them, smiling at Ruby’s enthusiasm. He’d taken her to see the dogs many a time, and her excitement never failed to make him happy. It reminded him of Dawn’s excitement when they’d first got the dogs. Henry followed along as well. Ruby finally stopped tugging when they reached the front yard. 

“Where are the doggies?” She asked, looking around with a frown.

“They’re inside.” Dr Robin fished out his keys. “Murray just had a vet visit, so he’s probably hiding.” 

“ **_Murray?_ ** ” Bendy froze at that. Edgar did as well, knowing full well just who the little devil darling had once been. Not to mention, he could hear Joey yelling at him from back at the studio. 

“He’s named after an old friend of mine.” Dr. Robin explained, unlocking the door. “A man I went to medical school with. We lost touch after he dropped out, but I still miss him.” Bendy nodded slowly, hunching his shoulders as they entered the house. Edgar made some little chittering noises. 

“ **_‘M fine._ ** ” Bendy mumbled, waving a hand in the direction of Edgar. 

“Doggie!” Ruby streaked across the room to kneel beside a dog that was laying by the couch. The dog held up his head upon her arrival and nuzzled her face. 

“ **_So, uh, why name a dog after some guy you went to school with?_ ** ” Bendy asked, apprehensively approaching the dog. “ **_Seems a little sappy._ ** ”

“He was a very good friend.” Dr. Robin settled on the couch beside the dog and Ruby. “Without him, I don’t think I would have made it through medical school. It was a gruelling process, honestly.”

“ **_You must really care about him._ ** ”

“I do.” Dr. Robin nodded. “He was a good man, even if he didn’t believe that. He would have made a fine doctor.” 

“Are you alright?” Henry asked, putting a hand on Bendy’s shoulder. Bendy mumbled something and slunk off to the bathroom. 

“He’s not feeling well.” Henry explained before following the little demon. Once they were both in the bathroom, Henry locked the door behind them. 

“ **_He said n_ ** o one would miss me.” Murray was on the verge of tears. “He told me that no one would ever miss me so I should do something worthwhile with my life instead of just taking it. He lied. This whole time....This whole time Robin was waiting for me!”

“Joey does that.” Henry nodded. Murray turned and started sobbing into Henry’s pant leg. For a few minutes, Murray just cried. As he cried, he slowly began to turn back into his human form, until he was resting his head on Henry’s chest. 

“Do you want me to break the enchantment?” Henry asked, his voice soft. It was practically broken already, thanks to Murray’s natural magical talent. Murray nodded, wiping away his remaining tears. Henry nodded back at him and got to work. Once he was finished, Murray took a deep breath. 

“How does it feel?” Henry asked. 

“Weird.” Murray admitted. He hadn’t truly been himself for such a long time. All his memories came rushing back in an instant. He awkwardly pulled his sleeves down over his forearms so Henry wouldn’t see the faint scars there. 

“Do you want to see Dr. Robin?” Henry asked, hand on the doorknob. 

“I...I’d like that.” Murray smiled slightly. Henry unlocked the door and opened it, stepping aside so Murray could leave the bathroom. Murray took a few deep breaths. He could do this. He could go out there and greet his friend. Robin had missed him, after all. It would be okay. 

“Take as long as you need.” Henry brushed past him, returning to the living room. Murray stood there for what felt like ages, trying to get up the courage to go out there. Finally, he set his shoulders and left the bathroom, walking as confidently as he could into the living room. Everyone’s eyes widened upon seeing. He smiled nervously, painfully aware of how long it had been since anyone had actually seen Murray Hill. 

“Hey...Been awhile, hasn’t it?”

In the studio, Joey screamed and threw a chair into the wall. He had done so much work to keep Murray under his thumb. He never should have let that man out of the studio. How dare Henry ruin his plans?! How _ dare  _ Henry show Murray that he had something to live for. He gritted his teeth. He would get his creations back somehow. His plans would continue. 


	12. Chapter 12

...

“‘M not...tired..” Ruby mumbled as she laid against Murray the dog like an oversized pillow before she started to snore, the other dog Julius, plopping his head on her legs, making a rather adorable scene for the adults to observe. Murray Hill chuckled, admittedly out of breath by being dragged along with Ruby’s antics; she definitely had speed and while she didn’t fully understand what happened with him, it didn’t seem to matter to the toddler as she dragged both Murrays, Edgar, and the other adults into running around and playing with her.

“She’s going to be a track star one day,” Joshua laughed as he plopped down on the couch.

“I’m thinking she’s going to be an animal trainer…” Chris said, smiling proudly at his little girl. “Leader of a circus or something…I’ll be behind her every step of the way...” Murray Hill smiled softly as Dr. Robin patted his shoulder comfortingly. Edgar chittered nervously, a bit overwhelmed by what happened to Murray and the fact he was hearing every curse that Joey knew as the man threw a tantrum back at the studio. Henry gently smiled as Joshua stood up.

“Wait a minute, I think I have an idea to help him out,” He went to the kitchen and grabbed a notepad and pen. Joshua came back over and handed it to Edgar and smiled. “I figure that instead of us trying to guess what you’re saying, you can write it,”

“I can still translate what he says…” Murray offered softly but he couldn’t help but chuckle at Joshua showing Edgar how to use the pen and pad, both of them smiling and partially acting like two excited children. Henry was smiling, obviously proud of Joshua. He noticed Murray’s look and chuckled.

“Joshy’s a good kid, I’m really proud of him...and I know Jonathan would be proud of him…” Joshua smiled softly and Murray figured that was Joshua’s father. Edgar chriped, showing over his attempt at writing, though it was hard to read and scribbly. Joshua chuckled.

“Hmm...I guess we’ll have to work on that part…”

.

* * *

 

.

“What are you two doing?” Sammy asked as he and Norman came into the kitchen, seeing papers and ribbons sprawled out. Allison and Susie looked up and chuckled.

“We’re working on some ideas,” Susie said softly, still a bit nervous about being around Sammy.

“Ideas for…?”

“Cordelia’s wedding.” Allison beamed. “You know, cause it’s pretty obvious she and that Joshua fella are going to married.” Sammy’s face fell into something that was a mix of irritated and embarrassment. “Oh Norman, what do you think would be good for something blue? You know that tradition; ‘Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, and Something Blue’,” Norman scratched the back of his head.

“Um...well…”

“Sammy, didn’t you used to use a blue ribbon for your banjo?” Susie asked. “To make sure that that banjo player didn’t accidently take it?” Sammy went red as Norman chuckled.

“Robert, wasn’t it?” He mused. “Such a playful mischievous boy…” The conversation trailed off as the group remembered those that hadn’t made it out and those fates. After a few minutes Allison spoke up.

“They will come back. Henry is too stubborn to do otherwise.” She said firmly. “He will bring them back….we will recover from what Drew did to us…” She forced a smile. “Besides, the more the merrier for Henry’s parties…” She chuckled. “Heh, maybe Julian will remember how he did his pasta recipe...Or Marvin and his cookie recipe…” 

“I never got a chance to have his cookies…” Sammy mused. “Someone kept stealing my cookies….” He shot a look at Norman who merely smiled.

“They were good…”

.

* * *

 

.

Fuming was an understatement for how Joey felt; Murray got away! His perfect creation got away! And he knew the longer Susie was away, the harder it would be to get her to become Alice Angel. He sat in a chair, trying to figure out a plan; Susie was the closest to Alice Angel, so obviously she was the best choice, but perhaps he could use someone else? Allison was the next obvious choice, but she would hard to lure back to the studio alone, and consider the black eye he had gotten last time he had seen her before shoving her in the machine, she would definitely put up a fight.

“Cordelia would be an interesting choice…” He mused aloud. “She was quiet...and so easy to use, but she has changed…” He raised an eyebrow as the gears turned in his head. Perhaps he could use her, but of course Alice’s personality would need a slight  _ tweaking _ in order to make her perfect. Joey smiled wickedly as he stood. “I have a wonderful idea…” The searchers followed, chittering in glee about their leader, who shared their excitement.


	13. Chapter 13

Cordelia was out shopping when Joey decided she would be his Alice. She passed by the studio on her way to and from the store and she’d more or less gotten used to it. She didn’t think about it much anymore. She thought about it this time, though, especially give what had gone down in the past months. She was on her way back from the store when Joey appeared to her, smiling as though he wasn’t a monster who’d ruined dozens of lives. 

“My dear Cordelia-” He didn’t get farther than that before Cordelia gave him a positively murderous look. 

“Fuck off.” She snarled, trying to push past him. He grabbed her arm and pulled her back, practically dipping her and causing her to drop her groceries. 

“You haven’t even heard me out.” He said, putting on his most disarming smile. 

“I don’t have to.” She replied. “I’ve heard all your lies. Also, you made me drop my groceries.” 

“But you’re very important, Miss Bell.” He purred. “I need you.”

“Because you’re out of options.” She shoved him off of her. “I remember you calling me expendable and unimportant the last time you tried to sacrifice me.” He winced. She really did have a long memory, didn’t she?

“I didn’t mean it.” He tried to take her in his arms again, but she pulled out a switchblade. Immediately, he stopped and put his hands up. 

“I will cut you.” She warned. Joey backed up as she began to collect her groceries. 

“It’s your fault I started carrying one of these.” She grumbled. “You took away everything in the world that I found safe and comforting.”

“I can try and fix it.” He promised, voice smooth as honey. “I want things to go back to the way they were as much as you do. We can be a family again.”

“No we can’t.” She turned back to him, her expression still poisonous. “You ruined everything. You don’t get to pretend nothing happened. You don’t get to pretend that you didn’t ruin dozens of lives with your experiments.” She pushed past Joey. Joey stared at the ground for a moment, completely dumbfounded, 

“Well, if you won’t come willingly.” His form began to distort. “I suppose I’ll have to do this the hard way.” A moment later, there was nothing on the street but a few discarded bags of groceries and a switchblade. 

 

Night was falling, and Joshua was becoming increasingly panicked. Cordelia had gone out around 11 am to get groceries and she still wasn’t back yet. Her, Murray, Henry, and Edgar had just gotten back from the Robin residence, and he’d expected to find her there. Henry and Sammy had gone out to look for her at Joshua’s urging. 

“I’m sure she’s fine.” Wally tried to assure him. “She’s a tough gal.” 

“Yes, but Joey’s dangerous and desperate.” Joshua paced back and forth. “He’s got a lot of crazy powers and she walks by the studio to get to the store all the time.” 

“She wouldn’t just let Joey take her.” Johnny said. Murray sat on the couch, holding Edgar to his chest. Edgar had been strangely quiet ever since they’d gotten back. This worried Murray quite a lot. He hadn’t said anything outright yet, but he was pretty sure something was going on. 

“Edgar, do you have something to say?” He asked, looking down at the spider toon. Edgar hunched his shoulders as all eyes in the room landed on him. 

“Edgar, do you know where she is?” Joshua asked. Edgar made himself even smaller, making sad chittering noises. 

“Edgar, we need your help.” Murray gently patted the spider’s head. “Joshua’s really worried.” Edgar whimpered and looked up at Murray. Murray smiled reassuringly. Edgar lowered his shoulders and chittered sadly. 

“What did he say?” Joshua asked. Just then, the door slammed opened. Sammy and Henry entered, both looking very upset. Sammy was holding a switchblade while Henry had two bags of groceries. 

“HE TOOK HER!” Sammy yelled, throwing the switchblade on the table. “THAT FUCKING BASTARD TOOK HER!”

“We found her knife and the groceries near the studio.” Henry explained, setting the bags down. “There were puddles of ink too.” 

“What’s with all the yelling?” Nancy came downstairs, Susie and Allison trailing behind her. 

“Joey kidnapped Cordelia,” Henry said as Sammy stamped around the kitchen and swore loudly. Nancy’s expression immediately grew dark. 

“Oh, he is going down.” She growled, cracking her knuckles. 

“Why would he take Cordelia?” Allison asked, looking wildly around. 

“Probably because she’s the last eligible female around here.” Murray sighed and patted Edgar’s head. “He’s getting desperate.” Joshua was just staring at the switchblade on the table. Slowly, he picked it up and flicked it open. 

“I’m going to kill him.” He whispered, looking up. 

“Joshua-” Henry started, but one look from the young tattoo artist stopped him, and everyone else, cold. They’d never seen Joshua this angry before and it was frankly rather terrifying. Henry’s shoulders slumped. 

“Alright.” He conceded. “But we’re going in with a plan.”


	14. Chapter 14

...

“Let! Me! Go!” Cordelia yelled, kicking her former boss in the face as he tied her up. Joey was mildly having flashbacks to when he was using Allison.

“ **_KNOCK IT OFF!_ ** ” He growled as he got another kick to the face. He turned away, to check on his machine before turning back and seeing several Bendy cutouts surrounding a very surprised Cordelia. Joey’s face darkened. “ **_You men are getting on my nerves…._ ** ”

“Men…?” Cordelia asked softly before she took a head count; 6 cutouts were in front of her, which marginally made sense, but there was 9 men that comprised of the search party and David had died in the hospital, so where was the-

 _THWACK_!!

Joey reeled back as a board fell from the ceiling, crashing onto the inky man, and Cordelia raised an eyebrow, noting that her boss definitely seemed shorter than before as he looked for the culprit.

“What in the world…?” She whispered aloud, as she hoped the others were coming quickly.

.

* * *

.

Sammy and Joshua carefully opened the door to the studio and walked in. Joshua readied his pistol, his face deadly serious as Sammy had a taser. Joshua had offered to allow Sammy his pistol for range’s sake, but the former Music Director politely declined, saying that Joshua was the professional. Joshua had chuckled at the joke but it was still a bit awkward.

“Sammy…” Joshua whispered as they crouched behind a board, creeping near the ink machine room, where a Bendy cutout was pointing toward, waiting for Henry and the others to come. “I wanted to tell you that I really appreciate you letting me date Cordelia.” Sammy looked at Joshua with a bemused look.

“Strange timing isn’t it to talk about that?” Joshua chuckled as they avoided a few roaming searchers.

“I know...but I wanted you to know…” Joshua sighed, sitting against an overturned desk. “It was rough working in Korea...even more than the war itself.” Sammy crouched next to him. “So many fellas got letters from their girlfriends saying they found other people, they were sick of waiting…” Joshua sighed. “Part of me was terrified that the next letter from her would be that, and there’s always the thought that I was holding her back…making her wait for me till I got back...” Sammy bit his lip; true he didn’t particularly like Joshua, considering he was his sister’s best friend and strange compared to other men he knew, and he certainly didn’t trust him to be worthy of Cordelia, but he also saw how much Joshua put into everything, never going half-assed, yet also knowing how to keep things in boundaries. And also considering while he himself was trapped in this God-awful studio, Joshua took care of his family without a second thought. Sammy took Joshua’s shoulder and held it firmly.

“Look, I know I’ve been rather...harsh with of my opinion of your relationship with Cordelia,” He started to say softly. “But I know you, and I certainly know Cordelia; she loves you. The way she lights up when you two are together is something that even I or Roy can’t quite manage….You don’t hold her back, Joshua, you hold her up and you give her that push to help her go outside her comfort zone...You’re good for her, and damnit you both make each other happy and we’re not going to let Drew snatch that from you.” Joshua smiled as Sammy smiled back. “You are a horrible influence on my family, but dammit, you at least put effort in it.” Joshua snorted.

“Nancy got tattoos before me.”

“Doesn’t matter. I still blame you, cause we are not related.” Joshua chuckled before they heard the door open, giving the the signal. “Alright, let’s go.” Joshua nodded, his face going back to serious focus, as the two snuck to the ink machine room, unaware of the nearby searcher fanning itself, as if to stop itself from crying happy tears while the other searchers noticed the new intruders.

.

* * *

.

Joey was getting desperate; the damn men kept blocking him from getting to Cordelia. Everytime he attempted to get closer to her either the cutouts would be in his way or a board from up above fell onto his head. He was debating on summoning his guard searchers to help him when a bullet embedded itself into his form. He turned and growled, seeing that it was _that_ boy and his prophet.

“Let. Cordelia. Go.” The boy demanded firmly, cocking the gun, ready to fire at him again. Joey growled in annoyance.

“I see my prophet has returned...hoping to save face?” Sammy frowned.

“You are no god.” He said. “You’re a delusional madman. And you will face what you did to all of us.” Joey scoffed, deciding that perhaps the lovely angel could wait. He turned to the men and began chuckling.

“A madman?” Joey began laughing, his form twisting and warping, dripping ink. “You really think a madman could accomplish _this_?!” He commanded the ink to swell up and grab Joshua and Sammy, knocking away their weapons. Cordelia watched in horror as the two men were lifted into the air as Murray, Henry, Nancy, and Edgar raced into the room.

“Joey! You need to stop!” Henry yelled. Joey saw Henry and began to laugh maniacally.

“Stop? Why would I stop when my dreams are now coming true?!”


	15. Chapter 15

Joey laughed maniacally as he lifted Joshua and Sammy into the air, bringing them towards the ink machine. His dreams were going to come true. He was going to accomplish everything he’d set out to do and no one was going to stop him. Not Henry, not his former prophet, not  _ that  _ boy, and certainly not Murray Hill.

“I think you’ll make an excellent toon, my boy.” Joey brought Joshua close to his face. “I was hoping to make Henry Bendy, but if dear Miss Bell is going to be Alice then you should be her love interest,” Joshua growled and spat in Joey’s face. Joey gritted his teeth and slapped Joshua. Cordelia’s eyes widened, and her hands formed fists at her sides. Every part of her body was screaming at her to launch herself across the room and throttle Joey like her life depended on it. But the cutouts had formed a tight circle around her. 

“And what to do with you?” Joey had the tentacle of ink bring Sammy down to him. “I’ll have to punish you for your disobedience. I hope you know that.”

“Go to Hell.” Sammy spat. 

“Now, Mr Lawrence, don’t be like that. I’m your god, remember?”

“GO TO HELL!” Sammy yelled, trying to swipe at Joey. Joey easily sidestepped the blow, bringing Sammy up again. Nancy picked up Joshua’s fallen gun and levelled it at Joey’s head. Her hand was shaking out of anger, but she could still shoot straight. Joey just smiled and moved Sammy and Joshua in front of him to form human shields. 

“You bastard!” Nancy snarled before launching herself at Joey, kicking and biting at every bit of exposed skin she could get at. Henry moved forward as well, but Murray stood frozen in place. Faced with Joey again, he found he couldn’t move. He was so afraid of what Joey might do to him. He couldn’t go back to being Joey’s slave, couldn’t go back to being scared of everything. He looked down at Edgar, no, Shawn. The former toymaker was hiding behind Murray’s leg, similarly terrified by Joey. He had to fix this. 

“Let them go.” He said, hoping his voice wasn’t shaking as much as he thought it was. Joey turned back to him, holding Nancy, Henry, Joshua, and Sammy aloft.

“Ah yes, Mr Hill.” Joey sneered. “What are you going to do to me, hm? You’re weak, Murray. You always have been and always will be. Now be a good boy and turn on the ink machine. I have work to do. And grab the girl as well.”

“No.” Murray’s voice held a bit more confidence now and he stood taller. 

“Excuse me?” Joey’s smile turned sharp. 

“I said no,” Murray repeated. “I’m done being your pawn.” Joey clicked his tongue and turned away, waving a hand vaguely. 

“Then perish.” An army of searchers rose up from the ink, surging towards Murray. Murray stood his ground and held up his hand. As soon as they reached him, they turned back into ink. Joey stopped a few feet from Cordelia and turned around slowly.

“How are you doing that?” Joey asked, his voice tight. He was barely keeping himself together. 

“I taught him a thing or two.” Henry couldn’t help but smile. 

“You can do it!” Cordelia called out to Murray, her face lighting up. “You’re much stronger than you give yourself credit for!”

“Shut up!” Joey roared, the ink tightening on those in his grasp. “Shut up shut up shut up!” Murray took a step forward, keeping his hand raised. Edgar stayed behind him. Behind Cordelia, Barley and Charley had appeared. 

“Hey there.” She gestured them closer to her, voice soft. “Why don’t you stay here with me right now, okay?” They nodded and moved closer to her. She moved away from the ink machine, the cutouts continuing to surround her. Behind Murray, the ink was beginning to rise, forming into familiar faces. The search party stood with Murray Hill, all advancing on Joey Drew. Joey’s eyes widened. His concentration slipped for a moment and he dropped the Nancy, Henry, Joshua, and Sammy. The four of them fell to the ground, but quickly righted themselves and stood with the others. At the head of the search party was the familiar form of Father Lawrence. 

“Hi, Dad.” Nancy smiled up at her father, tears in the corner of her eyes. Sammy just nodded at his father, trying to hide his own tears. Father Lawrence smiled softly at his children. It had been so long. But they could catch up later. For now, they needed to take care of Joey. Joey growled and tried to summon his own searchers, but found he couldn’t. 

“What the- How are you doing this?!” Joey demanded, stamping his foot. “You’re not worthy! They’re mine! MINE!” 

“Not anymore.” The sigils on Murray’s skin began to glow brightly. He felt powerful. He could feel the presence of the others in the ink and it terrified him. But he was going to fix things. He and the search party advanced on Joey until the former head of the studio had his back against the ink machine. Then Murray strode forward, looking far more confident than he ever had in his life.

“It ends here,” Murray said before pushing Joey into the ink machine. Cordelia immediately turned it on. The machine roared to life, beginning to pump out ink. 

“Is he...dead?” Cordelia whispered. 

“I can still feel his soul.” Murray shook his head. 

“I wouldn’t mind if he was,” Joshua whispered. Soon enough, Bendy the Dancing Demon sat before them. 

“Is that-?”

“It has to be.”

Henry knelt before the little demon, smiling warmly. 

“Hey there, buddy,” Henry said. Bendy opened his eyes, blinking owlishly.

“Wh-Where am I?” He asked, looking around. His voice sounded so close to Joey’s. “Who am I? Who are you?”

“My name’s Henry.” Henry held out his hand. “I’m your creator. You’re Bendy the Dancing Demon.”

“You’re very special,” Murray said. Bendy took Henry’s hand and got to his feet. 

“Golly, I’m everywhere!” The little demon looked around the room. Everyone glanced at each other. So this was something they were going to have to deal with now. 


End file.
